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The University of West Georgia has been growing steadily over the past few years. The university has experienced growth including increasing the number of student parking spaces, library renovations, a new football stadium and a coliseum for sports activities. However, UWG has outgrown its current bookstore, causing students frustration.
UWG’s current bookstore is located next to McDonald’s. It was built in 1985 and is only 8,000 square feet. Students have many complaints about the bookstore, including its location.
“There is no place to park,” said sophomore Camie Smith. “It’s inconvenient, and you can’t even look for your own books anymore. The students now have to tell someone who works there and they find the books for you. It’s a lot cheaper to buy online or go to the Brave’s Bookstore. I don’t even bother going to UWG’s bookstore anymore.”
Another common complaint students have is that textbook pricing is too high.
“The reason why I always hated the bookstore was because the buyback value was horrible and that the books were always overpriced,” said Britney Allred, UWG alumna ’08. “I always used to buy my books from Amazon.com, but by doing that I always risked receiving them late for the start of my classes.”
Allred said that the bookstore’s location and lack of adequate parking spaces made parking inconvenient.
“There really needs to be more parking available to the students,” said Allred. “Some of my friends have parked at McDonald’s before and have had their cars towed. The location of the place is out of the way.”
Assistant director of Auxiliary Services, Robert J. Swanson, Jr. said that the bookstore, as is, needs improvements.
“Our current facility is just inadequate,” said Swanson.
For these reasons and several others, plans to build a new bookstore are in place. Its new location will be on the corner of West Georgia Drive and University Drive, close to the Greek Village. This central location will make it easier for students to access, and will also have more room for student parking.
UWG junior Ashley Knight is enthusiastic about upcoming plans to improve the bookstore.
“At the beginning of the semester, the [current] bookstore is super crowded, but with the organization of the staff, it is still easy to get your books quickly and efficiently,” said Knight. “With the building of a new bookstore, I think that we will be able to relieve some of the space problems but still keep the great staff morale that we have in the current store.”
The new facility will have two stories, with the bottom floor measuring 16,000 square feet, and 7,000 square feet on the top level.
“There will be more room for additional merchandise, trade books, general books, electronics and flexible space for new items,” Swanson said.
UWG’s new bookstore will have several new features, including a visitor’s center, textbooks on the second floor and a pick-up area for students who pre-paid for textbooks online.
“I don’t think that we could be any more excited about this,” said Swanson.
The new facility is tentatively set to open by April 2011.
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